White paces Cornwall rout

Beats Port through air, on ground

CORNWALL — Everyone in Section 9 knows Cornwall senior quarterback Mike White has a cannon for an arm. In Friday night's easy 41-14 Section 9 Class A victory over Port Jervis, White overthrew a receiver in the end zone with a toss that traveled more than half the field.

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By RICK REMSNYDER

recordonline.com

By RICK REMSNYDER

Posted Sep. 28, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By RICK REMSNYDER

Posted Sep. 28, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

CORNWALL — Everyone in Section 9 knows Cornwall senior quarterback Mike White has a cannon for an arm. In Friday night's easy 41-14 Section 9 Class A victory over Port Jervis, White overthrew a receiver in the end zone with a toss that traveled more than half the field.

But here's a news flash for future opponents who think White is merely a pocket passer who chucks the ball downfield 50 or 60 yards.

In leading the Green Dragons (3-1, 2-0 Class A) to an impressive win, White was nimble and elusive in reeling off runs of 11, 26 and 18 yards against Port Jervis (1-3, 1-3 Class A).

Although some of that might have something to do with Cornwall breaking in a new offensive line, White's scrambling has definitely added another dimension to the Green Dragons' high-powered offense.

White seemed to enjoy running around dodging Port Jervis defensive linemen who managed to sack him just once all night.

"I just try to get away from people who are coming after me," White said. "So not wanting to get tackled helped me get away from them and that is where the scrambling comes in."

Cornwall coach Marcus Hughes said the coaching staff told White this season that he needed to be ready to run when the opportunity presented itself.

"We've been working on him tucking and running sometimes," Hughes said. "He did a great job of that tonight running around and finding open receivers."

Of course, White's strong right arm is still what makes two-time defending Class A champion Cornwall the favorite to repeat. He completed 12-of-20 passes for 186 yards and three TDs in the first half as the Green Dragons cruised to a 27-0 halftime lead. At one point, White completed seven straight passes to a variety of open receivers.

"I really thought Mike played great in the first half," Hughes said. "He was really on target."

Cornwall got on the board first on Moiset Santos' 1-yard blast with 3:30 left in the first quarter.

Wide receiver Chris Bauer hauled in two TD passes in the first half, the first one covering 25 yards for a 13-0 lead with 1:09 to go in the first quarter. White completed four straight passes of 6, 5, 31 and 17 yards in the drive that took just a little more than a minute off the clock.

Matt Robinson made it 20-0 by catching a 12-yard TD toss from White with 5:11 left in the half. Bauer's 36-yard touchdown reception put the Green Dragons on top 27-0 at the half.

In addition to picking up 50 yards on five carries Friday night, White also was able to buy more time to find open receivers with his new-found scrambling ability.

"It gives me a little more time to look around and see if anyone is running open or breaking off their route to find an open area," he said.